Bone fractures and bone deformities are common problems encountered in the medical field. A typical method for dealing with these ailments involves fixing bone segments together using surgical screws. These surgical screws, whether permanent or bio-absorbable, must be sterilized prior to insertion into the body.
Typically, a screwdriver or other powered tool having a blade at one end is used to implant the surgical screws. The blade is designed to receive a screw for insertion into the bone. Currently, surgical screws are provided in implant containers that are sterilized by the hospital. An individual screw is loaded into the blade and inserted into the bone segment one at a time. Between each insertion, the user must retrieve a screw from the implant container and fix it to the blade.
While this method is acceptable, there are inefficiencies when the screw is fixed to the blade, such as mishandling or misalignment of the screw. Moreover, the time it takes to individually load the surgical screws into the blade increases the surgery time and the typical risks associated with surgery.